Aba property owners get 90 days moratorium to renew building permits

The Abia State Government has directed property owners in Aba to use Governor Alex Otti’s 90-day moratorium to renew or acquire their building permits to avoid unnecessary losses.

Uche Ukeje, the director-general, Greater Aba Development Agency, handed down the directive on Friday in Aba at a news conference to announce the commencement of the moratorium.

Mr Ukeje said the briefing was to introduce the programme the governor approved for Aba.

According to him, the period of the moratorium is from 10 September to 9 December.

He said that there had never been a Master Plan for Aba, but as part of the process of getting one, the state needed to take stock of what it had.

“Ordinarily, when you erect your building without an approved plan when you want to regularise it, there are penalties, and there are things that come with that regularisation.

“But in his wisdom and magnanimity, the governor has brought Christmas early to the city of Aba.

“He is offering a 90-day moratorium for anyone who has a commercial or residential building that was built without approval to come in and get it approved.”

Mr Ukeje said that the basic idea of the exercise was the collection of data and not generation of funds for the state.

He said people would be billed according to the time they built their houses and not with current rates for everyone.

The director-general said the state needed the building data to plan as it was difficult in the modern world to plan without data.

“If you want to site hospitals, schools, or any other facility, be it social or financial, the first question they will ask you is what is your market, who are you serving?

“And as it is today, we don’t have that data because most of the things happen outside the system.

“So, what we are doing is basically to provide the government with the information we need to serve the people better,” he said.

He said that the 90-day moratorium was for people who had property to go to Town Planning Authorities in Aba North and Aba South, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, and Obingwa to get the cost of their building permits.

He said the asset owners would be required to pay into Abia State Government’s account and then return with proof of payment for documentation.

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Mr Ukeje said that three phone lines have been provided to report officials who might want to overreach asset owners for their own gains during the exercise.

“The public are advised not to pay any money to any account that is not Abia IGR account.

“And do not offer bribe to any of our officers.

“In fact, if we see you giving money to any of our officers, we will arrest the person and arrest you too,” he said.

(NAN)